Later, Dan, Luna, Balto and his parents, were at the top of the mountain again. As a wind current passed by them, the snow swirled in front of Dan, revealing Aniu. She smiled at them.

- Congratulations to you all. – she said, being heard and understood even by the humans. – You all remained strong when your bravery was tested. All of you. – she looked at Dan’s parents. – Paula Hunt and Daniel Hawkins, you risked yourselves to save your son when you saw him fighting Ohanzee in Olney. That’s an act of love that few would do.

Dan looked at his parents and smiled at them, thankful. They smiled back at him, happy that he was safe now.

- Dan… - Mr. Hawkins started, falling on his knees to be eye-leveled with his son. – I’m sorry. I was too blind to see the truth about you. I confess that deep inside, I knew you didn’t belong Olney. I think I was just afraid of losing you. – he made a pause. – But now I see how great you can be, and the future you have here. Here you have friends that would give their lives for you, and I am very, very proud of you.

The hybrid approached his father, who hugged him.

- I’m proud of you too, Dad. – he said. – I’ll never forget you.

They separated, so Dan could be hugged by his mother as well.

- I love you, sweetheart. – she said when they were embraced.

- I love you too, Mom.

The humans stood up again. Daniel (Sr.) turned his head at Luna. He crouched to see her better, and stroked her face affectionately.

- You take good care of him, okay? – he said, smiling.

Luna smiled back at him.

- I will. – she answered.

Dan’s parents stepped closer to Aniu.

- We’re ready. – Paula assured.

The she-wolf nodded, and looked to the sky. A multi-colored aura filled the place as many bendy shapes of light appeared above. The northern lights were shining over the mountain again, just like Dan remembered. The humans and Aniu were surrounded by a beam of light that went down from the sky. The many shapes of light were very close to them, and many silhouettes became clear in many of them, showing not only wolves and dogs, but geese, fishes, caribou, eagles… The spirits of all kinds of animals of the region were there, watching the scene. The dogs and the humans looked around dazzled. Aniu called their attention at the center of the place. The humans approached, apprehensive. The dogs watched them as the light got more intense.

- Good-bye, Dan. – Paula said. – Good luck.

Dan nodded, feeling a huge happiness to see that his parents now approved his choice, and it was all solved. The light reached its zenith, and the sudden flash blocked everyone’s sight…

Dan woke up. He sat up on his bed and looked around, completely lost. It was his room, dark because of the night. He took his blanket out, and looked at his body. There was no fur, and surely no tail. He was a human again. What had happened? He got up and looked in the mirror on his wardrobe’s door. A human and confused Dan looked back at him from the reflection. Was it all a dream? He tried to remember everything. He had been taken to Nome in the past, transformed into a wolf-dog, had met Balto, had fallen in love for Luna, fought a crazy tyrant wolf… Was that all a dream? It all felt so real… He sighed. Dreams had that ability to make people ponder and walk in circles to get to no conclusion. He just laid back on his bed and fell asleep again. He slept a much calmer sleep now, unaware that in other places, Paula and Mr. Hawkins had woken up after having the same dream, though only involving their own roles in the story, and many years in the past, Balto, Jenna, Kodi, Ralph, Dusty, Boris, Kirby and Rosie were waking up at the same time, having the same thoughts. Was it all a dream for everyone? Yet, none of them could imagine that someone else was waking up startled, completely uncertain of what had happened.

In the next day, which was a Sunday, Dan went out for a walk. As he strayed by the sunny town, he thought about his dream. Maybe it was a test from the spirits or… He gave himself an imaginary tap. It was just a dream, and that was all. Distracted in those thoughts, he didn’t see the girl walking towards him when he was passing by a park, and they collided. Dan looked at her.

- Sorry, I wasn’t…

The girl fixed her long black hair, showing her sapphire blue eyes. Dan got stunned, and stopped talking. She looked back at him.

- No, it’s okay. It was my fault. – she looked at his amber eyes, intrigued. – Do I know you?

- Well, I’m not sure. – the lad answered. – I’m Dan. What’s your name?

She smiled.

- I’m Luna.

Dan got surprised with the coincidence. They started to chat for a while, and then they started walking away together. In the middle of some trees, a white as snow form materialized. Aniu looked at the teenagers getting away down the street, and smiled. Her work was done. She then disappeared with a current of wind, never being seen in any part of the world again… at least, in that time. You must be asking yourself, “What was it all for?”, and that this entire “dream” was pointless. Well, let me explain the results of this story:

Dan’s parents, though not assuming that the dream was real somehow, understood that their needed some more understanding, not exactly because he was a wolf inside, but because he needed to feel he had a place in that world. They started to listen to him more, and started to see how his ideas actually had a point. Now he had met Luna (who never mentioned the crazy dream in which she was a husky that met a wolf-dog named Dan), both became great friends, and they had the same interests, including Balto movies. Soon, they became more than friends… In the past, Luna had never existed, and Balto and the other dogs assumed that it was just a dream and told no one about that, but deep in the forest, Chaska’s pack would still howl proudly and thankful for Daniel, The Half-blood Wolf who had saved them. One thing was sure: Dan, Luna and the others would never forget that dream.

The End

Balto, Jenna, Boris, Kodi, Kirby, Ralph, Dusty, Muk, Luk, Steele, Aniu, Nava and Stella are © to Universal Studios

Dan (Daniel Hawkins Jr.), Luna, Daniel (Daniel Hawkins Sr.), Paula Hunt, Ohanzee, Chaska, Ahanu, Adahy, Yiska and Mr. Wellington are © to Half-bloodWolf93